• Mohd Meesam Rizvi, Raj Bahadur Singh, Mohd Asim Rasheed, and Arindam Sarkar.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
• Anesth Essays Res. 2015 May 1;9(2):230-7.

ContextPostoperative throat complaints such as postoperative sore throat (POST), dysphagia, and hoarseness frequently arises after tracheal intubation and throat packing for patient undergoing general anesthesia. This condition is very disturbing to patient. Avoiding POST is a major priority for these patients because preventing postoperative complications contributes to patient satisfaction.AimsTo describe and analyze the postoperative throat effects of nasopharyngeal packing and oropharyngeal packing in patients undergoing nasal surgery.Settings And DesignA randomized comparative study.Subjects And MethodsAfter obtaining approval of Ethical Committee 40 patients were included in study. After this patient were randomly allocated into two groups of 20 each. Group A - in which the oropharynx was packed and Group B - inwhich the nasopharynx was packed. General anesthesia were given and throat packing was done and patients were interviewed postoperatively for any throat complications such as sore throat, difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia), hoarseness of voice, throat irritation, and any other symptom pertaining to the study were noted and data were analyzed.Statistical Analysis UsedT-test to compare the age, while Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used to compare sex distribution, sore throat, dysphagia, hoarseness, and throat irritation.ResultsResults showed statistically significant difference in incidence and severity of POST in Group A patients when compared to Group B patients to be more. Patients in Group A had a higher incidence of dysphagia when compared to their Group B counterparts. With respect to the incidence of hoarseness and throat irritation, there was no statistical significance between the groups.ConclusionWe concluded that the site of pharyngeal packing influences the incidence and severity of POST and as well as the incidence of dysphagia after general anesthesia. The use of nasopharyngeal packing in the patients undergoing nasal surgeries might lead to a reduction of the same.

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